The manner of using the halteres is clearly shown on the vases. The principle is the same as that of a standing jump, the utilization of the swing of the arms to assist the spring of the legs. The jumper swings the halteres forwards and upwards till they are level with, or higher than, his head, and then swings them vigorously downwards, at the same time bending his body till his hands are just below his knees. The actual jump takes place on the return swing. As the hands swing to the front, and the centre of gravity is shifted forward, the knees, which have been bent on the back swing, are vigorously straightened, and the swing of the halteres combines with the push of the legs to propel the body forwards. In the case of a standing jump the preliminary swing may be repeated two or three times.
Fig. 63. R.-f. pelike, in British Museum, E. 427.
It is this preliminary swing which is most frequently depicted on vases. On a red-figured pelike in the British Museum (Fig. [63]) we see a youth preparing to jump. The right leg, which is advanced, is straight, and he is just in the act of swinging the halteres to the front. Opposite him stands a flute-player in a long striped and spotted robe, playing the double flute. The jump was always accompanied by music. But why the jumper especially required this assistance is not clear. Philostratus gives as the reason that the Greeks regarded the jump as the most strenuous of all exercises. But this is hardly satisfactory. It seems probable that in early days flute-playing was a common accompaniment of all athletic exercises. The Argives wrestled to the accompaniment of the flute. On the chest of Cypselus, Admetus, and Mopsus were represented boxing to music, on vases the flute-player accompanies the diskos-thrower in his exercise, and less frequently the spear-thrower.[[550]] Possibly the rhythmical swing of the diskos and the halteres may have been assisted by the strains of music. But I suspect that the special connexion between the jump and the flute dates from the time when the halteres had already begun to be used as dumb-bells, and it was found that music was of great assistance as an accompaniment of physical drill for large classes.
The two typical moments in the swing, and those therefore which the artist usually selects, are the top of the upward swing and the bottom of the downward swing, though the two types are connected by a closely graduated series of intermediate types.[[551]]
Fig. 64. R.-f. krater. Copenhagen (?). (Annali, 1846, M.)
A good example of the upward swing occurs on a red-figured krater presented by Campana to the King of Denmark (Fig. [64]). It is a scene from the life of the gymnasium, and represents youths practising the exercises of the pentathlon. A diskos in its case hangs on the wall. In the centre stands a flute-player. To the left a youth has swung the halteres vigorously upward; his body is thrown well back, and its weight rests on the right leg, which is behind, the left foot being lifted off the ground by the swing. Next to him stands a javelin-thrower, who has just adjusted the thong of his javelin, and is drawing back his arm to throw. Beyond the flute-player a diskos-thrower prepares to throw the diskos. All three are depicted at similar stages in their respective exercises. They seem to be moving in time to the music. The fourth figure is also that of a jumper: he is in the attitude of a runner suddenly checking his pace; perhaps he is practising a long jump, and after a short run checks himself in order to swing the halteres before the spring. The upward swing is also represented on black-figured vases, but less vigorously, and with the arms raised slightly higher and somewhat bent.
Fig. 65. R.-f. kylix. Bologna. (Jüthner, Ant. Turn. 16.)